Chromatic Lass made a belated start to her career last December when she captured a one-turn maiden special weight dash for state-bred fillies and mares as the 9-10 favorite. Five weeks later, as a newly minted four-year-old, she captured a two-turn allowance for state-bred distaffers by nearly eight lengths as the 1-2 choice.

“I really didn’t want to run her short that first start,” Walters said. “But it was getting late in the year and there really were not a lot of choices by then. I always knew that she was going to be better going long. But there were not many two-turn races in the book last month, so I wanted to at least get a race in her before the end of the year.”

Chromatic Lass had initially hit the workout tab in the last month of her two-year-old season, and Walters had hoped for a spring debut to prep her for the stakes portion of the schedule commencing in the summer. But after four works last spring, Walters again decided to stop with her until the fall, when she fired a pair of four-furlong bullet drills before her well-backed career debut on December 15.

Sent away as the 4-5 favorite from the rail over a sloppy track on a night when the last four races on the card were nixed by dense fog, Chromatic Lass got away well under Peltroche to stalk the pace from third. When Peltroche steered the Miller homebred off the rail for the stretch drive, the Golden Lad filly responded like a genuine odds-on favorite and drew clear from pacesetter Blue Mountain to a 2 3/4-length score while stopping the timer in 53.54.

“Having the rail going 4 1/2 [furlongs] and then having to deal with the sloppy track, I was a little concerned things might not work out for her,” Walters said. “But she handled everything perfect. When Fredy got her off the fence turning for home, she really finished up nicely. You could see she wanted more distance. We were just lucky to get that race in her. They ran one more race that night, then canceled the remainder of the card.”

In her first try against winners, Chromatic Lass again was odds-on, this time the 1-2 favorite in a two-turn allowance for state-bred fillies and mares here on Jan. 19. She broke quickly to the lead, but when Reveirs Minute bid for the top spot, Peltroche was content to cede the early advantage, Chromatic Lass surged to command on the far turn then romped home nearly eight lengths clear while getting the 6 1/2-furlongs in 1:21.03.

Roughly an hour earlier the durable, well-traveled Beverly Park covered the same distance in 1:20.05 flat in a two-turn starter allowance for older runners. It was his fourth straight win and the 26^th in his career.

“We suspected all along that she was going to be better going two turns,” Walters said of Chromaic Lass. “She just had that one minor work in between, but she was fit enough. I was hoping Fredy could wait a little longer before sending her, but he got pressed a little bit down the backside and she just ran away from them.”

Chromatic Lass represents the lone winner for Walters this year from six starters. The longtime local conditioner boasts 1,547 career training victories, and his runners have earned nearly $15.4 million. Three of his top trainees have been, like Chromatic Lass, state-bred distaffers and boast at least one victory in the Cavada Breeders Classic.

Carnival Chrome won 10 of 16 starts and earned nearly $490,000, Longfield Star owned an 8-8-4 slate and over $250,000 banked from 41 tries and Cuppa Mocha Mojo won seven of 17 outings and earned nearly $220,000 in her career for Walters. His three Cavada victories are more than any other trainer has recorded.

As for Chromatic Lass, Walters is hoping she’ll follow in those footsteps.

“There are really not a lot of spots for her right now,” he said. “I might look for another race for her next month, but I would like to see her peaking in the summer and fall.”